Mumbai: Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan has urged the Centre to restructure and prioritize its assistance for crucial irrigation projects under the accelerated irrigation benefit programme so that they could be completed on time.
“Central assistance is received in the last quarter of the financial year. This hampers the progress of the projects. Funds are released late because of the long procedure of submitting continuation proposals for each project. I suggest that 70% of the funds be released as the first instalment in April or May on submission of utilization certificate. The balance amount can be given after scrutiny of the continuation proposal,” Sankaranarayanan said during a conference of governors chaired by President Pranab Mukherjee.
The proposal mooted by Sankaranarayanan assumes significance in view of the unprecedented drought in parts of the state’s Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.
“Last year, we submitted proposals seeking central assistance of Rs 2,400 crore, but received only Rs 192 crore. The entire central assistance scheme needs to be restructured,” a senior bureaucrat told TOI.
The governor has also urged the Centre to enhance the powers of the state government to grant environment and forest clearances. “A large number of irrigation projects in the Vidarbha region are stuck for want of environment and forest clearances. Powers of the state government may be enhanced for projects involving up to 20 hectares of land,” said Sankaranarayanan.
A senior Congress minister said that chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar must impress on the Centre the need for more financial assistance for drought-hit Maharashtra. “Union ministers from Maharashtra must put pressure on the Centre to release more funds. Compared to other states, meagre funds are released for Maharashtra,” he said.
He said that instead of waiting for the central team to assess the drought situation in the state, Pawar should submit his own assessment and raise a demand for financial assistance. “Maharashtra should get at least Rs 2,500 crore as interim aid from the Centre. A central team should then undertake a fresh assessment and decide further quantum of the aid,” he said.
He urged the chief minister to set up a special cell comprising senior bureaucrats in Mantralaya to monitor drought the situation across in the state on a daily basis. “The cell with interact with collectors and chief executive officers of all the affected districts,” he said.
Give temporary ration cards to drought migrants in city, says NCP chief
Mumbai: Claiming that the state was witnessing its worst-ever drought, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday said Mumbai must lend a helping hand to affected areas in the Marathwada region. Suggesting that more people will migrate from parched regions to Mumbai as the crisis worsens, Pawar demanded that such citizens be issued temporary ration cards.
Pawar made the statements during an all MP meeting convened by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. Of the 60 MPs from the state, only 37 attended. While making a presentation of drought relief measures undertaken by the state, Chavan said that a big budgetary allocation will be made to provide water and ensure survival of animals in drought-hit belts in the next fiscal. Pawar said there should be no politicization while transporting water from water-sufficient areas to water-scarce belts. He said the government needs to encourage villagers and youth to set up fodder camps in western Maharashtra.
BJP MP Gopinath Munde said the government should demand a package of Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre to tackle drought. TNN
COURTESY:
Prafulla Marpakwar TNN
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